


Interlude

by UndeadRobby



Series: The Gaang Kidnaps Zuko [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Not Canon Compliant, POV Zuko (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar) Angst, Zuko Joins The Gaang Early (Avatar), Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, aang's not really in this one he's there in spirit, just a little he's a messed up kid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:35:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25131745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UndeadRobby/pseuds/UndeadRobby
Summary: After the whirlwind of being sort of kidnapped by the Avatar and his friends, Zuko does some introspection, and returns something.
Series: The Gaang Kidnaps Zuko [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1820455
Comments: 29
Kudos: 1633





	Interlude

**Author's Note:**

> Special shout out to all the lovelies in the comments on the last part that inspired me to write some more! This one's a little short, though.

Zuko comes to lying in the grass. It’s damp, and cold, and expressly uncomfortable. He sits up, taking a deep breath, allowing the warmth of his inner fire to flow – chasing the cold out of his bones, and steaming the morning dew out of his clothes.

He stretches, cracking his back, which is aching after sleeping on the ground, and looks around. He notices the big, fluffy sky bison first, and dully notes that it, in fact, was not some kind of crazy dream, and he is, in fact, travelling with the avatar and his Water Tribe sidekicks. It’s not much of a surprise. He hadn’t really expected it to be a dream, anyway.

Rising to his feet, Zuko treks a short distance from their camp. He feels wrung out, and exhausted from not sleeping enough, and he’s still sore from being manhandled by Zhao’s men and thrown into prison. He settles down in a meditative position, cradling a small flame in his hands, and takes slow, deliberate breaths.

He’s not sure what to make of their concern for him. He still doesn’t really understand why they want him to come with them so badly.

They had all been _very_ insistent on his banishment not being his fault, but how could it not have been? He’d disrespected his father, the Fire Lord, and had been challenged to an Agni Kai. He’d accepted, and then refused to fight, showing himself to be weak, and shameful.

Somehow it just feels hollow now, stating what he’s thought to be the facts over and over – and a traitorous part of his mind that sounds suspiciously like Sokka is saying _nothing could have justified permanently disfiguring a thirteen-year-old boy._ He thinks he might believe it, too, someday. If only Uncle were here. He’d probably be proud to hear it.

And what of Uncle? He must be worried sick. Does he know that Zuko had escaped with the Avatar? Or does he think maybe he’s been taken prisoner by them? Does he even know he’s no longer in Zhao’s captivity? Does he even know he’s still alive?

The thought that Uncle might not know Zuko’s still alive hits harder than he ever could have anticipated. It feels like it’s knocked the wind from his lungs, and his meditation flame flickers out. Uncle’s never said it, not in so many words, but Zuko knows just as he knows that his uncle loves tea that ever since Lu Ten died, and Uncle came back to the palace, he’s thought of Zuko as his own son. Zuko will never forgive himself if he lets Uncle grieve the loss of another child.

He takes another deep breath to settle himself, and glances over his shoulder to the camp, where the Avatar and the Water Tribe siblings are sleeping peacefully. The sun has only just come up, after all, and these people don’t really strike him as early risers. He’s still not sure if he can commit to the treason of teaching the Avatar firebending, but he knows one thing for certain – these kids saved his life yesterday, and he doesn’t take that lightly. No matter what they might think of him, he’s – not honorable, he can’t say that. But he’s not about to betray their goodwill.

He certainly can’t ask them to go _back_ into the fire nation to find Uncle. He just has to go along with them, and hope that Uncle knows he’s safe and travelling with the Avatar, and that they’ll run into each other again soon.

He sighs, and stands, making his way back to camp to re-light the campfire, and see what they all have that they can scrounge together for breakfast.

********************************************

After a quick breakfast, they pack up camp, and Zuko watches as Sokka pulls out a map scroll and starts to pore over it, plotting their course North. His sister is looking over his shoulder, but doesn’t seem to be paying much attention. He sees her hand come up to her neck, and that’s when he realizes.

The necklace.

He’d picked it up on that Fire Nation floating prison for Earthbenders, and in all the chaos since he’d run into the group again, he’s forgotten to return it to her. He reaches into his pocket, thumbing over the pendant. She’ll probably be mad, but better that he gives it to her now that he’s realized than wait any longer. That’ll just make it worse.

“Katara.” He steps over to her, and she looks up at him.

“What is it, Zuko?”

“I, um, well, you see… I uh, found this.” He takes the necklace from his pocket, and holds it out to her.

Her eyes widen in surprise, then narrow at him, as she takes it from his hand. “You stole my necklace?”

“No, no, I didn’t- I didn’t steal it! I mean, I guess when I took it I didn’t really expect to just hand it back to you, but, I didn’t just take it off of you, or anything. I found it on that prison rig, after you staged that escape with all those Earthbenders. I just, I recognized that it was yours, and I picked it up, because I’d been tracking you all, and-“

“And you’re just now giving it back becaause?” Sokka asks, although he just looks amused, rather than Katara, who looks a bit like she wants to throttle him.

“I, sort of, forgot I had it? I was kind of, distracted, I guess, by becoming a traitor to my nation, and realizing that my father would kill me without a second thought.” He rubs the back of his neck, nervous, hoping that didn’t come off as sarcastic as it felt to say. He’s still waiting for the other shoe to drop – for this group to realize he’s not worth keeping around. There’s a reason his own father doesn’t want him, after all.

Katara’s eyes soften, though, and she looks down at the necklace.

“Right. I’m… sorry for assuming the worst. This necklace means a lot to me, and I’ve been really upset since I realized it was missing. It’s good that you picked it up, because if it had been left behind on that prison rig, I probably never would have seen it again.” Katara looks like she’s going to cry, and Zuko really doesn’t know how to handle that. “Thank you.”

“I, uh, you’re um, you’re welcome. I guess.” He gives her an awkward pat on the arm, but she smiles anyway, and puts the necklace on.

“Well wasn’t that sweet?” Sokka teases. “C’mon, let’s get in the air. I’ve got a course plotted out.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! <3


End file.
